My aim is to offer insights into some of the more subtle principles underpinning prints. The commentary is based on thirty-eight years of teaching and the prints and other collectables that I am focusing on are those which I have acquired over the years.
In the galleries of prints (accessed by clicking the links immediately below) I am also adding fresh images offered for sale. If you get lost in the maze of links, simply click the "home" button to return to the blog discussions.

Condition: both
panels are crisp impressions and the paper is in good condition (considering
the age of the prints). The right panel has two dot specks in the margin. Each of the two
panels has four pin holes from their original binding.

I am selling
both prints (i.e. the two panels of the diptych) for a total cost of AU$98 (currently
US$74.45/EUR66.72/GBP56.31 at the time of this listing) including postage and
handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing these original woodcut prints by Kono Bairei, please
contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal
invoice to make the payment easy.

I can imagine
that some viewers—hopefully not too many—would prefer to see the wonderful
two-panel woodcuts by Bairei trimmed, glued and abutted so that the two panels
can be seen as a single uninterrupted image (as shown in my digital abutment
above). Often in the marketplace Bairei's prints—like this fine pair—are merged with glue to satisfy such a desire. For me, however, the
trimming and gluing of Bairei’s prints is a shame, as they were originally designed to be
two facing pages in a bound book that, when opened, would appear as a single
image.

From my
standpoint, the borderlines separating a viewer’s reading of the two panels is
not a significant hurdle impacting upon looking at the prints. In fact, I
believe that the borderlines may even help to articulate a viewer’s reading, in
the sense that the visual interruption posed by the borderlines helps to slow
down a viewer’s reading.

Condition:
crisp and impression with margins (as published) in excellent condition for its
age. There are faint marks and the upper right corner is chipped.

I am selling
this large etching by Picart for a total cost of AU$92 (currently US$69.90/EUR62.63/GBP52.86
at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the
world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this finely executed print, please contact
me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to
make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

One of the
problems facing artists when they set out to portray a narrative with a cast of
thousands is how they can sustain a viewer’s interest without overwhelming the
brain with too much visual information.

Many of the old
masters, like Titian, sustained the viewer’s interest by creating a grid-like
pattern of lights and darks where attention is drawn to “important” areas of bright
light where figures can be easily seen juxtaposed with areas of shadows where
the visual engagement with the portrayed figures is minimised (i.e. “played
down”).

In this image, Picart,
in his translation of Le Brun’s composition, also employs such a formula.
Picart, however, goes a stage further. He uses the format (i.e. the image’s shape)
of a lunette to create a bridge-like tension to pictorially “hold” the mass of
figures into an arrangement that is visually digestible.

In my reading
of this image—and I need to stress that this is my personal reading that others
may not share—I scan from the weighted mass of figures on the lower-left and
then progress through the turmoil of figures along an arch-like rhythm passing
through the centre of the image to the lower-right side. For viewers with a mindset
to read from the opposite direction (i.e. from right-to-left), I can envisage that
such a reading would lead along an even more interesting path where the eye is
taken on an almost spiralling journey into the centre of the image following a
pattern of lights and darks.

Condition: a
well-printed, crisp and richly inked impression with wide margins. The sheet
has few faint traces of foxing towards the far edges of the margins, otherwise
the sheet is in very good condition.

I am selling
this delicately executed print for the total cost of AU$65 (currently US$48.75/EUR43.93/GBP36.97
at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this masterly translation of Jacques-Louis David’s
painting into etched line, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com)
and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This is the
second etching that I have posted recently by Charles-Louis Jules David (the
son of the grand Neo-Classical painter, Jacques-Louis David). I suspect that
all folk would know this image very well as it has risen to fame as an icon of
French culture even if Marat himself may not be a cherished figure by everyone.

Sometimes a
reproductive etching of a painting executed solely in black line is more than a
mimetic representation. This is certainly the case with this small masterly
print. Like the work of a master, the use of line replicates more than the
tones of the painting. From my way of looking at the etching, the black lines
also suggest passages of translucency and opacity of the painting’s colour. For
example, the curved crosshatched lines describing the contours of Marat’s flesh
capture the luminosity of the transparency of the glazed colours of the
painting in this area in contrast to the straight lines of crosshatching
rendering the opaque depth of the background colours. If I may go a little
further with this proposal, the mixture of loosely hatched strokes laid over a field
of vertical lines describing the textures of the crude table on which the
bottle of ink rests projects a solid opaque surface that is very different to
the attributes of Marat’s flesh and the far distance.

In terms of
black lines representing colours, this notion is not as vague as one might
imagine. The code of heraldic representation of colours (e.g. blue is horizontal,
red is vertical and black is a combination of horizontal lines over vertical
lines … amongst the other colours signified by heraldic code) is still used in electrical
engineering—so I am told. Consequentially, at a subliminal level, the
arrangement of the different hatched strokes suggest colours. In this reading
of the print, the hatched strokes of the background express black, the angled strokes
rendering Marat’s body express the heraldic colours of green and purple, and
the mixture of strokes rendering the table express a yellow-red.

Condition: a
well-printed, crisp and richly inked impression with wide margins. The sheet
has few faint traces of foxing towards the far edges of the margins, otherwise
the sheet is in very good condition.

I am selling
this delicately executed print for the total cost of AU$60 (currently US$44.81/EUR40.76/GBP34.21
at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this masterly translation of Jacques-Louis David’s
painting into etched line, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com)
and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

The reason that
I originally purchased this small etching was not because the printmaker was
the son of the great Neo-Classical painter, Jacques-Louis David, but rather because
I admired the graphic translation of the painting, “Bélisaire et l'Enfant”
(1780), into line.

Many reproductive printmakers of the nineteenth century had
the skill to duplicate the broad tonal effects of a painting into a network of
crosshatched lines, but this print is special in that there is great subtlety
in portraying light and shade. For instance, compare the variations of tone ranging from
the bright light illuminating Bélisaire’s forehead to the softer lights illuminating
the figures’ hands. In this variation of tone, each hand is rendered with a
slightly different tonal key and within this tonal key (i.e. a very limited
range of tones) the artist is still able to portray fine details and tonal
gradations. Such mastery is uncommon, especially in a small image.

(Note: the
Funck number on this print signifies that it was published in the seventeenth
century by David Funck (fl. 1682–1709) at Nuremberg)

Condition: marvellous
crisp and richly inked impression of exceptional rarity trimmed at the image
borderline. The sheet is in splendidly clean condition, but with a faint trace
of tone (visible on the left side verso) and two minor spots of restoration
(visible verso). This print is in a remarkable condition for its age.

I am selling
this museum-quality etching by the first artist to use etching for an artist’s
print, for the total cost of AU$2000 (currently US$1506.60/EUR1367/GBP1146.60 at
the time of posting this) including postage and handling to anywhere in the
world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this highly significant old-master print, please
contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal
invoice to make the payment easy.

This is a print
of exceptional historical importance and rarity. It is so important, in fact,
that it should be in a museum as a key exhibit!

There are two
reasons for its importance. The first reason is in regard to Daniel Hopfer’s
historical significance as an artist: he was the first artist to use the medium
of etching to create images designed to be “stand alone” artworks (as opposed
to using etching to decorate armour). Or, as the British Museum explains: “He [Daniel
Hopfer] was the earliest artist to adapt the practice of etching on iron to
printmaking and to make a significant profession out of it” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=120691).
The second reason is that this print is one of his best known/most reproduced
images.

From a personal
standpoint, this is a visually arresting image. Certainly, my attention is
caught by the cactus-like spikes on the figure’s costume—the portrayed figure
is Maximilian I’s court jester and advisor, Conrad von der Rosen—and his “hands
on hips” pose, but there is more to this image than spikes and body language
which give the figure a confronting prickly appearance. What I find visually riveting
is the pictorial cropping of the figure by the image’s borderline. For me the
cropping of the figure’s right elbow and his legs by the borderline, and the
almost tangential contact of his left elbow with the borderline, subliminally
suggests that he is in my private personal space (i.e. “in my face”). This
feeling of unease is heightened by the puff-ball clouds floating on either side
of the figure’s head that I read like an miniature storm clouds arising from
the figure’s disquieting demeanour.

Condition: crisp impression
trimmed on, or within, the platemark. The sheet is in very good condition for
its age (i.e. there are no tears, folds or holes), but there are a few
scattered dots and there are remnants of mounting hinges (verso).

I am selling this well-preserved original Dujardin etching
for the total cost of AU$164 (currently US$122.76/EUR111.67/GBP93.48 at the
time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the
world.

If you are interested in purchasing this remarkable print
showcasing Dujardin’s skill in representing light, space and subtle differences
of texture, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send
you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

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Dujardin is famous for his “warts and all” representations
of rural life—sheep and cows pissing and pooping accompanied by flies—he is
also remembered as a true master of suggesting light, space and mimetic
treatments of a full range of textures. For example, note how Dujardin
describes the contours of the mule in the foreground (actually a hinny rather
than a mule) using only line while simultaneously expressing the surface
textures of the mule’s hair. Note also how Dujardin’s treatment of the
foreground mule is quite different from his rendering of the mules further back
and how well he suggests the spatial distance separating them. Such skill is
rare and is the hallmark of great artist.

Condition: crisp impression with red edges to the sheet as
published in “Etching & Etchers”, 1968. There are a few light spots on the upper margin (recto) and a few pale touches of
foxing visible verso; otherwise the sheet is in very good condition.

I am selling this extremely rare, original Samuel Palmer
etching for the total cost of AU$698 (currently US$520.99/EUR475.06/GBP397.58
at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing a print by one of
Britain’s most famous artists, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

An
interesting feature of this deeply romantic image—and a feature that my eyes
keep returning to—is the portrayed standing woman with a pitcher resting on
her head. From what I understand about this curious figure is that her pose is
likely to have its origin in William Blake, Edward Calvert and Palmer’s
fascination with antique carved gems and coins. Blake, for instance, is known
to have copied poses for his figures from Roman bas-reliefs and this particular
pose may be found in his watercolour, “Jacob’s Ladder”. Similarly, Calvert’s
interest in such a classic pose may be seen in his wood engraving, “The Brook.”
Regarding Palmer's interest in antique carvings, he had a plaster cast collection
of them and offered one of his students, Miss Wilkinson, the following
advice in a letter dated 29 May 1862:

“Mr Newman
made me eight or ten of his cedar colour-boxes without partitions, and a little
deeper than usual, in which I possess a fine sculpture-gallery, having filled
them with casts from the finest antique gems. These are
most useful for reference, when working out lines caught from nature. …I would
advise you to collect casts from the best antique gems whenever you can get
them” (Cf Hardie, Martin, 1928, “Samuel Palmer”, London, p. 13).

Saturday, 23 July 2016

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Pierre Paul
Prud'hon
(aka Pierre Paul Prudhon) (1758–1823), printed by Bertauts (1830s–80 fl.),
published in “Gazette des Beaux-Arts”, 1870
"Une Lecture", c1822
Lithograph on chine-colléon wove paper
Size: (sheet) 26.6 x 17.4 cm; (image) 18.6 x 14.8 cm
Lettered with production detail: 'Prud'hon inv. et del.', title, and name of
printer.State
iv (of iv)Goncourt 7 (IV/IV), Béraldi 2, Sanchez & Seydoux
1870-4.
The British Museum curator offers the following description of this print:
“woman sitting in an armchair near a window with open book on her knees, turns
round and kisses a dove.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1365644&partId=1&searchText=Prud'hon+lecture&page=1)
The curator of the British Museum offers the following information: "Dated
c.1822 by Clément; the present copy of the print was published at a later date
in the 'Gazette des Beaux-Arts'." (ibid)

Condition: crisp impression in near pristine condition with small margins.

I am selling this extremely rare, curious and highly romantic original
lithograph for a total cost of AU$126 (currently US$93.94/EUR85.76/GBP71.77 at
the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the
world. If you are interested in purchasing this intriguing image, please
contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com)
and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make your payment easy.
(Note that Southby's in their 2015 Bernheimer Day Sale, item 431, offer auction
estimate of GBP500 — 700 for this print; see http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2015/bernheimer-day-sale-l15043.html)

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Although
my knowledge about the meaning of this allegory is cloudy I can at least share
the broad symbolic meaning of what a girl holding or intimately engaging with a
dove means: lost innocence.

Perhaps
the significance of this image relates to Prud’hon’s personal life. For
instance, I know that he had a traumatic love affair with one of his ex-pupils,
Constance Mayer, who committed suicide in his studio by slitting her throat
with a razor after learning that Prud’hon intended to honour his former wife’s
wish by choosing to never marry again. I also understand that they are now
buried together in the same tomb and so this tragic story may have relevance to
this image, but I really don’t know for certain.

For
those who may concur that the image may be linked to Prud’hon’s tragedy, the
woman portrayed in the print also bears a striking resemblance to Constance
Mayer.It’s all so sad …

Numbered
on plate: “30”; lettered with title and production detail, “Guido Reni invenit
/ B.Picart sculp.'”

Condition:
crisp and delicate impression with generous margins in excellent condition for
its age.

I am selling this exquisite
etching by Picart for a total cost of AU$62 (currently US$46.33/EUR42.05/GBP35.35
at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the
world.

If you are interested in
purchasing this remarkably beautiful and finely executed print, please contact
me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to
make the payment easy.

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Picart was a prolific
printmaker and the reason for his fame is clear to see with this exquisitely
rendered etching. Note for example how he uses crosshatched lines with the
tiniest dot at the ends of the lines to represent the gentle curves of Erigone’s
arm.